About TheGreat Northern

An innovative and collaborative community of co-working space, incubators, event arenas, startups, established businesses and our legendarily fantastic coffee.

We help make the companies and technologies of tomorrow.

It’s hard starting a business, or freelancing, on your own. Working from home can be a solitary experience. You have no external input, no collaborators, no inspiration. And your coffee machine is old and makes terrible coffee.You’re ready to change the world but all game changers need collaborators and inspiration, right?

Now, imagine you’re building your world-class company or product with the input of a wide array of brilliant collaborators. But they actually work in the same building as you. And you can meet up with them for a chat and an amazing cup of coffee any time you want. And, not only that, there are wide array of free activities you can take part in. And have we mentioned the coffee?Sounds good, huh?

"I have no idea where this will lead us, but I have a definite feeling it will be a place both wonderful and strange."

THE STORY OF TGN

The Great Northern is part of the tradition of Skellefteå.Skellefteå has a reputation for encouraging creativity.

In the 1990s the city was briefly at the centre of the Swedish pop scene because of the success of bands such as The Wannadies.

Their success inspired more local young people to start bands. And these bands enjoyed success too – their music saturated Swedish and international radio and they toured the UK, USA and Japan.

The municipality recognised that this youth movement was positive and encouraged it further. They offered free rehearsal space and launched the free Trästockfestivalen.

And now the progressive thinking of the municipality has been rewarded. The very people who were nurtured and who started bands learned to cooperate. They sharpened their entrepreneurial skills and now have key positions in Skellefteå’s modern business ecosystem.

Today, the city houses a cluster of companies in the advertising, gaming and digital industries of which many other municipalities can only dream.

Not only do these companies employ local workers they also attract expertise from other parts of the world.

But these entrepreneurs knew that the city could not stand still. A few years ago they decided the city needed to help kickstart more tech startups.

The idea for The Great Northern – whose name was inspired by the 1990s cult TV show Twin Peaks, after the geography of Skellefteå was once compared by a visitor to the fictional town – was born.

And the municipality, still aware of its responsibility to its citizens to broaden its business base, supported the vision of these entrepreneurs.

They earmarked a disused community house, a building that had previously housed teenage discos and counselling facilities, to become the crucible for high-tech industry in Skellefteå. Young architect Isabelle Gyllengahm, at Collage Architects, was given the mission to create something cool. And she did.

The Great Northern opened in January 2017 and has been an instant success, fostering startups such as Gold Town Games and BI Nordic.

A city known for its traditional heavy industries, in mining and timber, is now, thanks to The Great Northern, taking steps to become a global digital powerhouse.

TEAM TGN

All the TGN team have had their own business or been freelancers. We know how tough that life can be and we know what makes you solo artists tick. We’re always around to offer advice, introduce you to a potential collaborator or just chat. All you have to do is ask!